


Un Mute

by yaoi_yaoieverywhere



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, Less Story More Summarizing, Spirits, TBC?, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-19 04:07:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4732277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yaoi_yaoieverywhere/pseuds/yaoi_yaoieverywhere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sure, Spirits weren't something everyone had, but it was common enough that it would be pointless to hide it from the rest of the world. They granted various but particular abilities to their users and were often grouped together under labels when similar enough.</p><p>What was strange was Fujiwara no Sai. An ancient Spirit completely aware of his past life, with the strongest Future Vision any Spirit Guide possessed, was not known to just about anybody for one simple reason.</p><p>Spirits weren't supposed to be able to talk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Un Mute

**Author's Note:**

> oh no

Eleven years and counting, Hikaru gets shorted his allowance, and drags Akari with him to find something to sell from his grandfather's house. That's how it starts.

Creepy voice coming out of a Goban? Hikaru can handle that. The beautiful figure with ancient clothing and makeup appearing out of nothingness and rejoicing about returning to the world? A little less okay, but Hikaru manages.

Somehow he never gets around to telling Akari or his Grandpa that he's found a Spirit of his own. Twelve was typically the deadline for getting one, so Hikaru marveled at acquiring a spirit that would be his until he died almost at the cutoff.

Speaking of Spirits, he was pretty sure they weren't supposed to be like Sai. First of all, Sai could talk. Hikaru had never heard of a Spirit who could directly talk to anybody. Writing was a common staple with those spirits that bothered figuring it out but usually there was an empathetic link and little else. Sai however...

Well, lets just say Sai knows a fair bit about history and has no qualms with sharing anytime Hikaru needs an answer in class. Sai said something about not liking the headaches he got when Hikaru thought too long on a question he didn't know the answer too. He would even throw himself on top of Hikaru's desk sometimes if it got too bad.

Though that was another thing- other people couldn't see Sai unless he wanted them to. Sure lot of Spirits could conceal their presence with effort but it was almost the opposite with Sai. Even his mother's tiny boar spirit hovered over her shoulder in plain sight.

"Torajirou has been my only other human. He rarely asked me to appear but it would often fatigue me if I had to be seen too long! So he was mindful of that. I would be most grateful if you did the same." When he said this, Sai reached out and grasped one of Hikaru's hands with both his own in a pleading way.

This seemed to be somewhat of a blessing in disguise. Sai was plain weird in too many ways to count. Speaking of weird though... Sai's ability.

There had been a reason Sai had been connected to the Goban after all.

"I was a teacher of Go in the palace during my living days. It didn't end well, which is probably why I ended up this way. Still, I was very good at that, and my ability now is the power to see the many paths of the future and figure out which one is most likely. Torajirou was never able to accompany me when I did this, but he listened to me faithfully. In return he would play my hand in Go. I wonder how he's doing in the afterlife..."

Which was all well and good for Torajirou, but Hikaru had no such luck. Everytime Sai decided he wanted to see what would happen next Hikaru was mysteriously pulled along, head spinning with each new path shown. Sai would often have to half carry Hikaru to somewhere shaded after doing so.

The first time Sai had just wanted to know how to get Hikaru to play Go with him. That had been... Nauseating. Actually, that was why he'd fainted upon their meeting. Ugh.

The second time Hikaru handled slightly better even without a warning. That time Sai had just been trying to gather information about this new era. You know, writing, technology, fads, the like. Hikaru managed to pull them out halfway through and just explain everything Sai asked about instead.

Later Hikaru would ask how far Sai could see into the future and accurately predict what was going to happen.

"I've never tried to do it beyond five years, but I was still able to figure that out. Perhaps that's my limit?"

Five years was an awful long time to sort through. Deciding to go to an internet cafe and look up some of the details, he let Sai play internet Go in the corner while he googled all he could about Spirits and future abilities. What he learned was that the most well known Psychic spirit guide in the world had only once managed to predict three years into the future with any amount of accuracy at all. And it had been a rather cryptic prophecy to be interpreted at that.

There was much expectation and wealth lavished upon the woman who owned said spirit guide in return for her help in anything the wealthy desired and she deigned to predict. But there were people who desired more accurate, less cryptic, and farther seeing Psychics who would pay more.

Hikaru looked at Sai, who was contemplating his next move, and looked back at the list of people who would pay for his abilities. And then he closed Google and went to goof off on Agar.io for the rest of the day.

Money was well and good, but Hikaru couldn't use Sai like that. Wouldn't perhaps is the better term. Sai was a person. He talked in such an old fashioned way, but acted like a kid whenever he wanted something. He would do it if Hikaru asked, he knew, but it wouldn't be good for either of them. There was trust and compatibility and who knows what else making them fit together.

The realization Hikaru would have to go through it as well only crossed his mind later that day, long after they'd left the internet cafe and went exploring the rest of the world. It would be much later when he realized that with that decision, he'd basically decided to never tell anyone else that Sai existed.

To let people know Sai existed would raise a lot of questions- not just because of his power, but because of his oddities. All Sai really wanted to do was play Go and live with Hikaru. And all Hikaru wanted was to play and continue living in relative peace with Sai.

One thing Sai insisted on however was directly teaching Hikaru how to play Go.

"When I do have to use my ability, this will help you stay grounded. Go and my ability are the same on many levels. Maybe you'll even be able to start figuring out the flow of things yourself!" Hmm. It would be nice not to feel so sick every time Sai wanted to see the future... Picking up a handful of stones, Hikaru let them slide back down into their container, feeling the smooth blackness soothe him. The sound of Sai doing the same with the white stones made him sigh slowly.

That was another thing Sai had brought. Patience. Hikaru was always needing to move, move, move before Sai but now patience had started to settle somewhere in him when it came to the Goban. Sometimes he would do his homework on top of it when he absolutely had to. Sai fussed about it a little at first, but realizing Hikaru's pencil wasn't likely to hurt or stain the Goban further as ink would had quieted him on the matter.

"Okay, but I only play against you. Maybe online later on if I like it, but never face to face with anyone. Got it?"

Sai understood. He would always understand.

If Hikaru begged his mom to let him use his dad's old computer a week later, the one he had just stopped using, Sai didn't mention it.

In turn, Hikaru didn't mention Sai's tactile nature. Maybe it had something to do with his past life. Perhaps he hadn't been able to touch much of anything with Torajirou, their bond not strong enough to suppose physical sensations. Hikaru learned the warmth of Sai's hand when it praised him, the familiar pressure when Sai leaned on him with all his weight, the feel of Sai curled up against him in the bed as they drifted off to sleep.

In Hikaru's opinion, it was nice to have so much skinship even if it was with someone no one else could see. His favorite type however was when Sai would have Hikaru essentially sit on his lap as they played. It was weird in some ways, how parental it almost felt, but it felt like Sai was more alive than dead as he felt lungs move and breaths stir his hair whenever Sai laughed.

It didn't take long for Hikaru to drop Soccer in favor of Go. He even found a club for it, though Sai and Web Go quickly had him too far above their levels to do much more than teach them. So he went to a Go parlour, just for Sai. Just once.

Just once was more than enough for Akira to notice his playing style and- it wasn't quite balking, and it wasn't offense, but. It was something like having hackles raised.

Hikaru left that parlor and swore never to come back because of the gaze he felt on him and more importantly Sai.

Jade green eyes. Whether they belonged to the human or his noodle of a dragon spirit, Hikaru couldn't say. All he knew was if they stayed interested too long Sai might be found out and he didn't want that. It wasn't just out of reason anymore, if it ever was. It was some jealousy that griped his ribs tight. The thought of having to share Sai choked him.

He should've remembered showing his face to the Go world would have consequences. It was a place full of perceptive and strategic people they might stand eccentrics but would never ignore an opening.

**Author's Note:**

> Technically, this is all JJBA's fault. Untechnically, I should get better sleeping habits because I started this at fOUR IN THE MORNING. TBC?? I just dunno
> 
> Man, I miss Hikaru no Go. Enough to flesh this out and figure out where it was going? Err. I'll... get back to you on that. Maybe.


End file.
